Tooth cleaning apparatus



1963 G. E. RICHMOND 3,407,

TOOTH CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 19, 1965 BYW United States Patent3,407,502 TOOTH CLEANING APPARATUS George E. Richmond, 828 Fernview, St.Louis, Mo. 63141 Filed Nov. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 508,785 7 Claims. (CI.32-59) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Tooth cleaning apparatus havinginterfitting relatively rotating parts for preventing pumice fromentering the space containing moving parts in the angle member of atooth polishing machine. A hearing cap nut is provided with an extensionor sleeve which extends into a recess formed in the base of thepolisher. The sleeve provides such added tortuous passageways as toeliminate entry of pumice into the working parts of the polishingmachine.

The tooth polishing machine has an angle that has communicating rightangle recesses in it for housing meshed gears, one of which is driven bya power mechanism which is not part of this invention, and the other ofwhich is connected to a polisher. A hearing cap nut fits over the end ofthe opening through which the latter gear extends. The gear to which thepolisher is connected has a mandrel extension in the form of a hub orsleeve extending through the bearing cap nut. The polisher is moldedabout a screw that is threaded into the mandrel extension or molded tosnap over a hub.

While the fit between the mandrel extension and the bearing cap nut isclose, nevertheless, the bearing cap nut is stationary with the angle,whereas the mandrel extension rotates with the gears, and this relativemovement requires that there be light space between the mandrelextension and the bearing cap nut. In conventional polishing machines,it is through this space that pumice has entered and ultimately causedexcessive wear, cloggings, and failures in the rotation transmittingmechamsms.

In the present invention, the bearing cap nut is provided with anextension or sleeve that extends to the end or beyond the mandrelextension into a recess formed in the base of the polisher. Closetolerances are maintained between the outer diameter of the cap nutsleeve and the inner diameter of the recess in the polisher. The sleeveprovides such added tortuous passageways for the pumice and the end ofthe sleeve rubbing on the screw head has been found to eliminate anyentry of pumice into the working mechanism of the polishing machine.

The principal object of this machine is to provide the foregoingapparatus.

In general, therefore, the object of this invention is to provide meansand apparatus for preventing the entrance of pumice into the area ofmoving parts in a tooth polishing machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide inexpensive and easilyconstructed means for preventing pumice from entering the workingmechanism of a tooth cleaning machine, which means does not requireextensive alterations of other parts of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus as describedwherein existing tooth cleaning machines can be readily converted toincorporate the invention.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

Patented Oct. 29, 1968 In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of an angle showing the bearing capnut and polisher in operating positions;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in longitudinal medial sectionthrough the angle, the bearing cap nut, and the polisher;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the bearing cap nut;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of the bearing cap nu-t;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the bearing cap nut;

FIGURE 6 is a view in section taken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a view in section similar to FIGURE 2, but showing modifiedform of the invention;

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of the hub used in the modification ofFIGURE 7; and

FIGURE 9 is a bottom plan view of the bearing cap nut used in the FIGURE7 modification.

Referring now to the drawing, FIGURE 1 illustrates the operating end 10of a tooth polishing machine. This machine comprises an angle member 11having an end 12 adapted to be threaded to or otherwise connected to anextension arm which transmits driving power to parts connected to theangle member. The angle member 11 has a head 13 at its other end.

There is a passage 15 through the angle member 11 which communicates atright angles with a recess 16 in the head 13. The recess 16 opens to thelower end 17 of the head 13 and there are internal threads 18 adjacentthe end 17. A shaft 19 extends through the angle member 11 and isconnected to the base 20 of a beveled gear 21 that is positioned justbeyond the end of the recess 16.

There is another beveled gear 22 that meshes with the gear 21. It has acentral pin extension 23 that fits within a recess 24 to position thegear 22. There is a mandrel 25 extending from the base 26 of the gear22. The mandrel 25 has a cylindrical side wall 27 the diameter of whichis slightly less than the diameter of the base 26 so that the base 26provides an annular shoulder beyond the cylindrical side 27. At the baseof the mandrel 25, there is an annular shoulder 28 extending radiallyinwardly and leading to a mandrel extension 29 of smaller diameter thanthe diameter of the mandrel 25. The mandrel extension 29 also has acylindrical outer surface 30 between the annular shoulder 28 and thelower end 31 of the mandrel extension. A hole 32 is tapped into themandrel extension 29.

There is a bearing cap nut 35 having a knurled or hexagonal outersurface 36 and an annular shoulder 37 that bears against the end 17 ofthe head 13. An extension 38 has external threads 39 that engage thethreads 18. 7

There is a recess 40 in the bearing cap nut 35 that extends from theupper end 41 to a radially inwardly extending annular shoulder 42. Asleeve or tubular extension 43 projects below the body of the nut 35 tothe lower end 44 of the sleeve 43. There is a bore 45 through the sleeve43 from the shoulder 42 to the lower end 44.

The bearing cap nut 35 threads into the head 13 as shown in FIGURE 2until the shoulder 37 bears tightly against the lower end 17. In thisposition, the recess 40 receives the mandrel 25 in a very close fit witha. close fit between the shoulders 28 and 42, and the bore 45 receivesthe mandrel extension 29 with a very close fit.

A polisher 48 is standard to the extent that it is made O ofconventional rubber and has a pocket 49 at its working end, a taperedside wall 50, and an annular skirt 51 above a base portion 52. A screw53 has a head 54 bonded to the polisher 48 during molding. There is acircular recess 55 formed in the base portion 52, concentric with theshank of screw 53. The sleeve 43 and mandrel extension 29 project intothe recess 55 with a very close fit between the side wall 56 of therecess 55 and the external side wall of the tubular extension 43. Thediameter of the screw head 54 is greater than the outside diameter ofthe mandrel extension 29. This makes the face 57 of the screw head 54act as a block against the passage of pumice between the mandrelextension 29 and the sleeve 43. Preferably, the screw head is made ofbrass or bronze and the mandrel extension 29 and sleeve 43 are groundtogether to even ends against the face 57 of the screw head 54.

In operation, the shaft 19 is connected to a driving mechanism (notshown) to drive the gears 21 and 22. Rotation of the gear 22 rotates themandrel 25 and the mandrel extension 29 and rotates the polisher 48. Themandrel 25 rotates within the recess 40 and the mandrel extension 29rotates within the recess 45 of the stationary bearing cap nut 35. Thepolisher 48 rotates about the stationary bearing cap nut 35 with theside wall 55 very close to the sleeve 43.

Because of the design of the bearing cap nut 35 with the sleeve 43, andthe complementary design of the polisher 48 with the recess or well 55,together with the mandrel extension 29, pumice cannot gather; within theskirt 51 and enter the area of the gears 21 and 22. The passage suchpumice would have to travel includes the narrow space between the side56 of the well 55 and the outer surface of the sleeve 43 and the narrowspace between the inner wall 45 of the sleeve 43 and the outer wall 30of the mandrel extension 29. The pumice is also blocked by the slidingcontact between the screw head 54 and the mandrel extension 29 andsleeve 43. It has been found that this design effectively prevents suchentry of pumice into the working parts of the apparatus.

Dimensions of the bearing cap nut 35 may be varied and still maintainthe concept of this invention, but for illustrative purposes, thebearing cap nut 35 is made with a sleeve 43 having an external length ofabout 0.0525 inch, an external diameter of about 0.110 inch, and aninternal diameter of about 0.094 inch. The length of the recess 40 fromthe upper end 41 to the shoulder 42 is about 0.143 inch, and itsdiameter is about 0.1495. The depth of the recess or well 55 in thepolisher 48 is about 0.025 inch and the diameter of the inner side wall56 of the well 54 is such as to eifect a slight contact between therubber and the sleeve 43.

In FIGURE 7, another form of bearing cap nut 60 is threaded into theangle 11. The cap nut 60 has an annular shoulder 61 that overlies and istightened against the lower end 17 of the angle 11. The nut 60 has ahole 62 through its lower end communicating with a larger diameterrecess 63 to which it is joined by a horizontal annular shoulder 64.

A gear 65 corresponds to the gear 22 of FIGURE 2, but has a downwardlydepending mandrel 66 sized to fit in the recess 63. A shaft or mandrelextension 67 projects below the mandrel 66 and through the Opening 62.

A hub 68 is welded or bonded (it may be threaded) onto the end of theshaft 67. The hub 68 has a base 69, a narrow neck 70, and a larger head71. A rubber polisher 72 has a recess 73 for receiving the head 71 withan annular inwardly extending head 74 for snapping into the neck portion70. The polisher also has the usual polishing well 75.

To block pumice from flowing between the cap 60 and the hub 68, the capnut and hub are provided with mutually opposing faces 76 and 77,respectively. There is an annular groove 78 in the hub 68 and an annularhead 79 on the cap 60 which fits into the groove 78. Preferably,

the faces 76 and 77 are in contact as the hub 63 rotates. Also, the hubis preferably made of bronze or brass to provide better bearing againstthe steel cap nut 60.

Various changes and modifications may be made within the purview of thisinvention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Suchchanges and modifications are within the scope and teaching of thisinvention defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. Tooth cleaning apparatus comprising an angle memher having internalrecess means for housing rotatable driving parts, a bearing cap nutadapted to be mounted over the end of one of the recess means, a sleeveprojecting from the bearing cap nut, a mandrel extension extendingthrough the bearing cap nut and into the sleeve, a polisher attached tothe mandrel extension, and interfitting relatively rotatable meansbetween the bearing cap nut and the polisher for preventing the passageof foreign matter into the internal recess means of the angle member,the interfitting means comprising a well in the polisher, the sleeve inthe bearing cap nut fitting into the well, the sleeve and mandrelextension having coplanar faces, and a metal face bonded to the polisherand in constant contact with the said coplanar faces of the sleeve andmandrel extension.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the metal face compresses the faceof the head of a screw by which the polisher is fastened to the mandrelextension, the screw head being brass or bronz and the sleeve beingsteel.

3. Tooth cleaning apparatus comprising an angle member having internalrecess means for housing rotatable driving parts, a bearing cap nutadapted to be mounted over the end of one of the recess means, a mandrelextension extending through the bearing cap nut, a polisher attached tothe mandrel extension, and interfitting relatively rotatable meansbetween the bearing cap nut and the polisher for preventing the passageof foreign matter into the internal recess means of the angle member,the interfitting means comprising a hub fixed to the mandrel extensionand annular ton ue and groove parts between the hub and the bearing capnut.

4. Tooth cleaning apparatus comprising an angle member having internalrecess means for housing rotatable driving parts, a bearing cap nutadapted to be mounted over the end of one of the recess means, a sleeveprojecting from the bearing cap nut, a mandrel extension extendingthrough the bearing cap nut and into the sleeve, a polisher attached tothe mandrel extension, and interfitting relatively rotatable meansbetween the bearing cap nut and the polisher for preventing the passageof foreign matter into the internal recess means of the angle member, aWell in the polisher, the sleeve in the bearing cap nut fitting into thwell, the diameter of the mandrel being greater than the diameter of themandrel extension, and an annular shoulder between the mandrel andmandrel extension.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the sleeve on the bearing cap nutmeets the body of the bearing cap nut in an annular shoulder whichcomplements the annular shoulder between the mandrel and mandrelextension.

6. The apparatus of claim 4- wherein the well has a side wall of smallerdiameter than the external diameter of the sleeve, the side wall of thewell being in rubbing contact with the side wall of the sleeve duringrotation of the polisher.

7. Tooth cleaning apparatus comprising an angle memher having internalrecess means for housing rotatable driving parts, a stationary bearingcap nut adapted to be mounted over the end of one of the recess means, asleeve projecting from the bearing cap nut, a mandrel extensionextending through the bearing cap nut and into the sleeve, a polisherattached to the mandrel extension, and interfitting relatively rotatablemeans between the bearing cap nut and the polisher for preventing thepassage of foreign matter into the internal recess means of 5 6 theangle member, the interfitting means comprising a References Cited wellthe polisher, the sleeve in the bearing ca nut fit- UNITED STATESPATENTS ting mm the well, the well having a cylindrical slde wall and abottom wall, the sleeve having a cylin- 2,202,299 5/1940 Pelkey 32 59drical side wall and an end wall, the side walls of the 5 2,400,9125/1946 Bmt 3259 well and the sleeve and the bottom wall and end wall ofthe well and the sleeve being in rubbing contact during LOUIS MANCENEP'lmary Exammer' rotation of the polisher. C. R. WENTZEL, AssistantExaminer.

